Kenyan PM describes Mugabe as a dictator

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga described President Robert Mugabe as a dictator on Thursday in one of the harshest attacks on the Zimbabwean ruler by another African leader.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a March election but failed to win the required majority to avoid a run-off. Tsvangirai's MDC party says it won the poll and is taking part in the June 27 ballot under protest.

"I have advised Morgan Tsvangirai to accept to participate in the run-off, which has been called because dictators know no boundaries," Odinga told a news conference at the World Economic Forum for Africa in Cape Town.

Odinga disputed the victory of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in an election in December, prompting deadly clashes, but the former opposition leader then agreed to a power-sharing deal.

Odinga said Tsvangirai's decision to campaign in the run-off would show "how far Mugabe and his cronies are willing to go."

Zimbabwe's opposition has said it fears that Mugabe's officials will rig the results of the run-off to extend his 28-year rule, as they are accused of doing in past elections.

"As a pan-Africanist, I think that I would be failing in my duty if I did not point out that what is happening in Zimbabwe is a big embarrassment to the entire continent of Africa," Odinga added.

"We cannot be speaking about democracy and democratization of the continent when we condone what is happening in Zimbabwe."

It is rare for African leaders to publicly criticize Mugabe, who is still seen as a hero by millions on the continent for fighting to end British rule in Zimbabwe in 1980 and for supporting other anti-colonial struggles.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has been among those criticized for taking too soft a line on Mugabe's government, which has presided over an economic meltdown marked by inflation over 165,000 percent and chronic food shortages.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; writing by Paul Simao; editing by Matthew Tostevin)